


the study-buddy incident

by atinywooyoung



Series: First Milestone Drabbles [6]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:55:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25408765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atinywooyoung/pseuds/atinywooyoung
Summary: Eunbin has always had a thing for embarrassing you to the point you’d gladly let the floor sink under you and swallow you whole but it gets particularly bad when your study buddy San is around and when you thought things couldn’t get any more awkward, they did. But then, they didn’t.
Relationships: Choi San/Reader
Series: First Milestone Drabbles [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1840264
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	the study-buddy incident

**Author's Note:**

> A book is sitting wide open on your legs, pens and colourful highlighters are sprawled all around you on the bed—where you made sure to make yourself comfortable on—and overall, you feel ready to line and memorize everything even remotely important to help you pass the damned exam.

You have been trying to pass it for months now and in two days, you’ll have your fourth try and, honest to God, if you fail this time as well, you’re probably going to rip your hair out in a frustration fit.

That is also the very reason why a boy is sitting right next to you now, his head tilted forward as he reaches for his own book and notes to help you study. You have been studying with San for an entire month now, going over and over the same things, the same books. 

The pages of your book have been underlined, highlighted and almost ripped to shreds but still, you try to imprint all the words inside your brain by visual aid, lining over other colourful lines.

“I am so done with this subject, I swear to God,” you sigh, rolling your eyes as you start reading through the chapter you could swear you know by heart by now.

San snickers next to you, shaking his head a little as he opens the book to your exact page so that you can ask each other questions and confront your notes about it. Basically, the usual.

Eunbin is sitting on her bed as well, her mouth pursed into a little pout as she stares at the both of you, her hair up in a high-ponytail that makes her look even prettier under the sunlight, filtering through your pink curtains.

Eunbin has been your best friend since you were literally infants which turned out to be both a blessing and a curse, especially here in college.

She sighs loudly, gathering your attention as she studies you and San, probably guessing how many inches are separating your bodies.

She has been onto your ass for weeks, trying to figure out your relationship with the boy. You told her you are just study-buddies, maybe leaning into a friendship but she just doesn’t listen. She has this idea stuck in her head that you are keeping things from her and ever since that day, she has been embarrassing you in front of the boy with her remarks almost every single day.

You have wished for the floor to swallow you whole an incredible amount of times since the two met and when you catch the glimpse in her eyes, your insides twitch uncomfortably inside of you. She is out for blood, again, and you wait in dread for the words to roll out of her mouth and turn everything into awkward-land again.

“Sooo… you guys are gonna study for the rest of the afternoon?” She asks, her question sounding rather innocent but you can’t help but notice the teasing smirk on her lips, nor the way her eyes are pointedly fixed on your face, waiting for you to ‘betray’ yourself in some way.

“That’s the plan, yeah,” you reply, your eyes turning into slits as you stare at her, warning her with your gaze to not shame you again in front of him, especially because yes, you have said the truth about you two just being study-buddies but that doesn’t mean you have no interest in him. In fact, you rather fancy San and would be very grateful to Eunbin if she would just stop turning you into a fool in front of him.

“Boring,” she quips back, rolling her eyes in a way that makes San chuckle next to you, his eyes now on her as well as she stands up, huffing like a kid would when denied the chance of playing with some friends.

“Yeah, but I’ve got no choice,” is your bitter reply as you purse your lips into an indignant pout because you’d rather go out as well, spend the day under the sun or whatever but you’re still stuck here, albeit with wonderful company.

“Oh well… I guess I’m gonna leave you two alone to… _study_.” It’s the way she says that word that makes the blood rush to your face. It’s the pointed look as she moves her gaze from you to him and vice-versa as if implying you’d do all sorts of things _except_ study.

You decide it is best to ignore and move back to your textbook but you can still feel her standing there, looking at you literally waiting for you to say something, literally anything.

 _Awkward._ So much so you think you’re going to die. You can feel San’s gaze on you and when you look up at him, his eyebrows are furrowed in confusion because, hell, he is not stupid and he can sense the tension in the air, he can probably tell something else is being said between the lines and well, you feel like dying out of embarrassment all over again.

 _Ugh, I’m going to fucking kill you Kwon Eunbin_ , you think, diverting your gaze from San to fix it on your friend.

She is looking at you with her eyebrows raised, a little mocking smile on her full lips as you roll your eyes once more.

“Well? Are you going or not?” The words escape your mouth a tad bit too harshly but they still are a perfect mirror of the storm happening inside of you. You are so fed up with everything in your life right about now because, honestly, you need to start studying or you’ll fail your exam _again_ , and you’ll cry all of your tears _again_ and you’ll have to start studying for it all over _again_.

Anxiety suddenly peaks inside of you at the loose stream of thoughts, cutting the air out of your lungs.

“Ok, ok, I got it, I’m gonna leave you and your boy—mph!” As soon as her mouth opens, you know what she’s going to say. See? The curse and blessing of knowing each other since literally day one of your lives.

You abruptly stand up and cover her mouth with your hand, shooting her a glare as you roughly push her outside the door and into the corridor.

“Ok, goodbye, Eunbin!” Your friend looks at you indignantly for the way you just treated her but oh well, she literally asked for it, “And for the last time, _he’s not my boyfriend!”_ You whisper through gritted teeth before closing the door in front of her face.

You can apologize later, when San is far far away from this room and she can no longer embarrass you to death.

When you turn around, you find San looking at you. His eyes are shining with mirth, his lips are pursed into his infamous angelic smile that makes his dimples show on his adorable cheeks.

Damn, he looks so beautiful and ethereal like this, his skin almost glowing under the sunlight. 

His fluffy raven hair is swept back today, a few strands hooked around his ears—oddly bare of any piercings—to make sure they don’t block his vision when you actually start studying and focusing on your exam.

Looking at him for too long is never wise because he always ends up pulling you in like a magnet, your eyes not capable of leaving his until he is the one diverting his gaze and fix it upon something else.

So you end up noticing his black tank top and how strong his arms look as he grips the book in his lap, you let your gaze linger over his tight black jeans that outline his tiny waist and before you know it, dirty thoughts are clouding up everything else.

 _Mouthwatering_ , you muse to yourself before San himself breaks the spell by opening up his pretty mouth.

“Your friend is funny,” he says and you roll your eyes at him, walking through your room to unceremoniously drop your body back beside him on the mattress before he gets a chance to bewitch you all over again and keep your gaze firm on him.

“Yeah, really funny,” you retort before you sigh and focus back on the textbook.  
A few minutes tick by in utter silence before San decides to break it with his voice.

The funny thing is that you can feel his eyes on you before his voice has even the chance of reaching your ears. Even when you are focused on anything else but him, your entire being remains hyper-aware of his every move.

So goosebumps gather on your skin the moment his voice breaks the silence, forcing you to look at him once more.

“Can I ask you something?”

“You already did.” You retort, pointedly fixing your gaze over the textbook once more but failing to read and register any words written on the page.

“Well… can I ask you something else?”

“Technically, you already did,” you retort, lifting your gaze once more to meet a very frustrated San, his features spelling ‘disbelief’ as he looks at you with his eyes reduced to two slits.

“Can you stop being an ass for a second and let me speak?”

You purse your lips and turn your eyes to slits to cover up the way his remark has made your heart feel all funny in his chest. It’s stupid, really, to be about something like this but when he speaks to you like this, as if you’d known each other for a very long time, you can’t help but feel happy about it.

Friend doesn’t sound as nice as _boyfriend_ but it easily beats study-buddy, anytime. 

“Ok, Mister Cranky, go ahead.”

San is staring at you, his gaze holding yours locked into his as he ponders over his next words for seconds that feel like entire minutes.

There is something different in his expression, in the way he is looking at you, something you are not sure how to identify nor name.

Your insides twitch uncomfortably, your heart beating fast against your ribcage as you try to hold your stare without giving away any of your emotions.

You are about to huff, feigning annoyance over your precious study-time being wasted like this when San finally opens his mouth.

“Does the thought of me being your boyfriend completely repulse you?”  
The words take a few seconds to register in your mind, almost sounding like a completely new language to your ears as you look at him in confusion.

He starts scratching his head, clearly embarrassed by not only his sudden question but also your reaction to it. His cheeks are turning a nice shade of pink, making him look even more attractive and damn, you didn’t think that was even possible.

“What?” You dumbly ask, your voice barely above a whisper as you keep staring at him, eyes big as saucers.

“I mean I… I heard what you said to your friend earlier,” he explains, his eyes dropping to his hands tightly wrapped around his book, “She thinks we’re more than friends, right?”

“Oh God you heard that,” your cheeks turn boiling hot, your heart plummeting inside your chest as you let your head fall into your hands. _Of-fucking-course_ he had to hear that, “I’m so sorry, San, she’s a bit… never mind, I promise nothing like that will ever happen again, I don’t want things to be awkward between us.”

“No it’s okay that’s not why I asked,” his voice sounds small, prompting you to lift your gaze back up to him. He has his eyes on you again, his bottom lip trapped under his teeth as he stares at you, his eyes as big as a terrified deer’s.

“I was just wondering if you’re like… interested… in me,” his voice turns softer and softer, becoming almost inaudible by the time he speaks the last few words.

“San… are you asking me if I like you?” You ask, your hands trembling a little around your book as your heart rate spikes up in your chest. Oh Lord, your friendship is about to go down before it even had a chance to start and it’s all Eunbin’s fault.

“Well, do you?” He asks, almost expectantly as his knuckles turn white from the tight grip around his own textbook.

“Why are you asking?” Your voice is small as you start playing with the edges of the pages in your grasp out of nervousness. How long can you really avoid his question? And most importantly: how good of a liar can you turn out to be in this type of situation?

“Oh,” he says, looking around as if that would help him find the words he is so desperately looking for, “I just… I might fancy you a little so that’s why I—uhm.”  
His voice dies down as he diverts his gaze again as you stare up at him in utter stupor. Did Choi San just admit he likes you? 

You have to fight the urge to pinch yourself just to make sure this is not a dream but it is, in fact, happening.

It is while you battle through all of these thoughts and emotions that San gulps down heavily and starts gathering up his things, his cheeks turned a bit red at this point.

“Forget I ever said anything,” he says, his voice sounding small and so defeated. It is only then that you realize your silence must have been seen by him as you not liking him back.

Words are still trapped inside your truth, your thoughts completely rendered inconsequential by the fact that Choi San has feelings for _you_ , of all people.

As he starts to get up from your bed you reach forward, hooking your hand around his wrist to pull him back down and finally press your mouth atop his soft and slightly parted lips.

You gulp down San’s gasp as he opens his mouth, welcoming your tongue whilst you close your eyes to let yourself drown into the sensation of kissing him after imagining it so many times.

Oh, dreams did really not make it justice at all. Kissing San feels like a million fireworks are going off inside your heart, it feels like your entire being is catching up on fire and it also feels like you are finally whole, as if you had a missing piece all this time and only realized it now that it is back in its place.

You slowly open your eyes as you pull slightly backward, releasing his lips to marvel at his features. He has still his eyes shut, his eyebrows raised and lips closing on each other to keep the taste of yours in, imprint it in his memory.

When he finally opens his eyes, you are staring at him expectantly, your face boiling hot as you wait for him to say something, literally anything.

“Wow,” he says, voice slightly hoarse, forcing him to clear his throat as a small smile creeps up on his features.

“Yeah, wow,” you reply in a whisper, biting your bottom lip as you tentatively reach out for one of his hands to grasp it with yours, feel his palm pressed against your own, his fingers interlaced with yours.

San’s smile deepens at the sweet gesture, gladly giving you his hand so he can squeeze yours in return.

“I had no idea you felt that way,” you add, your eyes searching his as you keep biting your bottom lip, almost fearing it to be just a big old joke at your expanse.

“Guess we have your friend to thank for that, uh?” He says jokingly, teasing you with his smirk as he tilts his head to the side.

You roll your eyes and grunt in frustration because you still kind of want to murder her in her sleep for all the embarrassing moments she has put you through _but_ , you do kind of need to thank her for everything in light of the recent outcome.

“Ugh, I’ll never hear the end of that if I do tell her,” you reply, your lips pursed into a pout as San chuckles.

His free hand comes to rest on one of your cheeks then, his gaze tender as he pulls you forward, his eyes searching yours.

“What do you say about forgetting about Eunbin for now and just catch up on some wasted time?” His breath hits your lips as he speaks those words and how are you even supposed to resist him when he is looking at you like that, his lips slightly parted to welcome yours on top of his?

You close your eyes, tilting your head a little forward to welcome the sensation of his mouth on top of yours again and bask in the way your body instantly catches on fire as if awakening from a deep slumber.

It’s when you are starting to sigh in appreciation that the door of your room swings open and Eunbin appears, her gasp making the two of you jump away from each other as if you caught electricity.

“So I was right! He _is_ your boyfriend!”

You turn around to look up at your friend, your glare probably enough to burn her on the spot because of course, of all the damn times, she had to barge back in right _this_ instant.

“I swear to God Eunbin I am going to kill you,” you say through gritted teeth as you get up from your bed, armed with a pillow as your friend screams and runs for dear life through the door.

As you both run out of the door, all you can hear is the clear sound of San laughing his ass off at both of your antics and lord, you think that might be the most precious sounds of all.

 _Damn, I’m screwed_ , you think as you keep chasing your friend through the corridors, your screams of murder turning inevitably into laughter as you realize how hopelessly in love with him you are.


End file.
